Door fastener



G. P. WILD DOOR FASTENER vMarch 25, 1930.

Filed Jan. 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l .....lhy

Maia-h 25, 1930. G. P. WILD 1,752,131

DOOR FASTENER Filed Jan. 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 I BY Il Il mPatented Mar. 25, 1930 PATENT OFFICE GNTHER PHILIP WILD, OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA DOOR FASTENER Application inea January 5,1928. serial No. 244,568.

The invention relates, generally stated, to door fasteners, especiallylatch mechanism for refrigerator doors, cold storage room doors and thelikeas shown, described, and

claimed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,637,168, issued tome under date ofJuly 26, 1927.

Theleading objects of the present invention lare to provide a'doorfastener of the character stated in which is combined simplicity andefliciency of structure, simplicity in manipulation, quick and positiveintery locking operation, cheapness of manufacture,

and in which the spring pressed keeper is free tor partially rotateabout its longitudinal axis in order to take care of or accommodateinequalities between a door and door j amb.`

Other and further objects reside in the provision of general details ofconstruction and arrangement and combination of' parts Y `for attainingthe results sought by said leading object.

Y ther and further objects notV at this time more particularly pointedout will be hereinafter` referred to.

The invention consists of the novel construction hereinafter describedand finally claimed.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will bemore fully 3o understood from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings formingpart hereof, and inwhich Fig. 1, is a view in frontV elevation of latch mechanismembodyingthe invention.

Fig. 2, is a view in section taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig.l 3, is a view in section taken upon the lline 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4, is an end view of the device.

Fig.l 5, is a view in longitudinal section taken upon the line 5-5 ofFig. 3.

Fig.j6,is an end view of the keeper detached.

Fig. 7, is a view in section taken upon the line 7-7 of Fig. 1.

For the purpose of illustratingmy inven tion I have shown in theaccompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred byme, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory andreliable results, although it is to be understood that the variousinstrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variouslyarranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to theprecise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as here inshown and described.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 designates a door jamb, andreference numeral 2 designates a door hinged with re- 60 spect thereto.A description will be given first of the keeper parts as carried by thedoor jamb and thereafter a description of the latching elementsascarried by the door will be given. Fixed to the door jamb 1, as by thescrews 3, is a housing or casing 4, best seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. Thishousing or casing has a longitudinal bore 5 fitted within which is akeeper 6. The rear wall 9 of the housing or casing is apertured as at 8,and fitted within the housing or casing 4 is a coiled spring 11 abuttingagainst the wall 9 and normally pressing said keeper() toward the rightin Figs. 1 and 2. The outer or nose part of the keeper is flut at itsend with opposed portions which are inclined.

The keeper 6 has projected rearwardly therefrom in a horizontalmanner arod 7 of rectangular cross-section, see Fig. 4, which rod 7 projectsthrough the rectilinear aper- 80 ture or opening 8 in the wall 9 Vofcasing 4. Between the end wall 9 of casing 4 and the rear face 10 ofkeeper 6 is the spring 11 which is coiled around the rod 7. The end ofrod 7 which projects through the aperture or opening 8 of casing 4 isprovided with a bolt and nut connection 12 to limit movement to theright, in Figs. 1 and 5, of the keeper 6. rlhe particular function ofthe keeper 6, casing 4, spring 11, and rod 7 is to provide a con- 9(struction whereby the rod 7 has certain play in the housing or casing 4by reason of the rectangular cross-sectional arrangement of the rod 7andthe rectilinear opening 8 in said casing. In other words, the rod 7in its longitudinal, horizontal movement has suflicent play with respectto the housing or casing 4 whereby the rod 7 is ree to move slightlyaround its longitudinal axis as clearly 10 shown in Figs; 3 and 4. Thus,if, for instance, the'door jamb 1 and the door 2 are slightly out ofvertical alignment the door 2 in closing will eiciently latch vwithrespect to the jamb 1 when Vthe ixed detent 13 and the movabledetent-14, as carried by the door 2, cooperatively engage the nose ofthe keeper. This is true because even though, for example, the doormight be slightly out of alignment with the j amb, the door in closing`by reason of the detents just referred to will tilt or turn slightly thekeeper and its stem about its longitudinal axis so that an efficientinterlock of parts may be obtained. In the n connection, it is tobenoted that the keeper 6 upon its inner end is cylindrical and ts acorrespondingly cylindrical part of the casing'4, so thatthe keeper 6 isfree to turn in the casing 4 in connection with the rod 7..

Taking up now the latching mechanism as 3o carried by the doo'r 2, andwhich cooperates with the keeper just described, it is to be noted thatthe fixed detent 13 is carried by the elongated plate 15 secured as at16 to the door 2. y This plate 15, as shown in Fig. 1, is

substantially T-shaped. The fixed detent13 is secured to this plate 13byV means 'of rivets 17 o'r equivalent securing means. I-Iaving hingedrelation with the plate 15 as at 18 is the movable detent 14, whichdetent is best seen in Fig. 2. Apcoiled'spring 19 isinterposed betweenthe plate 15 and the detent 14 in order normally to maintain the detentY 14 free from ythe nose of the keeper 6, as clearl ly shown in Fig.k2.The stop 20 and adjacent part of the movable detent form a hand grip 21so that to open the door the operator may grasp part 21 and pulloutwardly upon the detent to thus move the bevelled endV ot the detent14 inwardly to engage, ride over, and

5.0 push outwardly the keeper V6. Asthe keeper moves to the left inFig.2, andas the oper-y ato'r stillV pulls uponthe door 2, the iixed'de- Yupon the knob 2O of rod V22 to move outwardly y the end 23 of vmovabledetent 14, and thus Fig. 2 the keeper '6.

compress spring=19 and shift to the left in What I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A latch device of the character stated comprising a casing having arectilinear 2. A latch device of the character stated y comprising `acasing having a rectilinear openingV therein,a longitudinally movablecylindrical keeper the nose of which has opposed bevelled edges, themajor part of the said keeper being mounted within said cas'- ing, alhorizontally disposed rod of rectangular cross-section extendedoutwardly. from said keeperA nose and penetrating said recti*` linearopening in said casing said rod in its longitudinal movement havingsufficient play with respect to said rectilinear opening tov permit ofslight movement around its longitudinal axis, means including a bolt andnut connection passing vertically through the end f of said rod asprojected beyond said casing' for limiting longitudinal movement of saidkeeper, and a spring interposed between the" inner end of saidkeepernose` and said casing. 3. A latch device oi the characterV statedcomprisinga casingv havingVV a rectilinear; openingy therein said casingbeing carried byA a door 4j amb, a keeper'the nose vof which hasopposedk bevelled edges, the major part of said keeper being mountedwithin said casing, a horizontally disposed rod of rectangularcross-section extended outwardlyV from said keeper nose and penetratingsaid rectilinear opening in said casing, meansr passing verticallythrough the end of said Vrod as projected beyond said casing forlimiting longitudinal movement of said keeper, a spring interposedbetween the innerk end of said keeper nose and saidcasing,"a platehaving a fixed detent carried by a door and normally adapted to abutagainstlthe inner bevelledl face of said keeper, a vspring presseddetent arranged to' cooperate with said keeper to cause axial movementof said keeper in the vevent that said door and jamb are not in truevertical alignment, and means carried by said door for .actuatingy saidspring pressed'or movable detent in order to .release the Vxed (Cileteutfrom the keeper,thereby opening the oor.

4. A latch device ofthe character stated comprising ya casingl having. arectilinear opening in its outer end wall, a longitudinally movablevcylindrical keeperfmounted V.Within

